1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a corner connector used to hold siding retainers for framing windows, doors, and other right angle structures, and particularly a corner connector which has improved sealing characteristics that prevent, or minimize, water damage problems and avoid debris and unsightly dirt which normally collect on conventional corner connectors.
2. Background Discussion
Use of strips of siding to cover exterior walls of buildings is a common practice. The siding strips may be made of aluminum, steel, vinyl chloride, or other materials. These strips are fastened to an exterior wall in a conventional manner, with the ends of these strips received in siding retainers having a generally J-shaped configuration and are referred to as J-channels. These siding retainers are fastened along the marginal areas of a right angle structure to frame the right angle structure. Where the ends of the retainers meet at a corner of the right angle structure, the ends are mitered. If the miter is not precise, there is a problem with water leakage. Moreover, it is exceedingly time consuming to make such miters, and if such miters are imprecise, they are unsightly. It has been suggested that the miter operation be eliminated by use of a corner connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,800 by Richard Fredette.
The Fredette corner connector is fastened at the corner of a window, door, or other right angle structure, and a siding retainer is slipped into a channel in a leg in this corner connector. Although the Fredette corner connector is an advance over the conventional practice of mitering the ends of siding retainers because the time consuming mitering operation is eliminated, because the retainer is slipped within a channel in the corner connector, an inadequate seal in many instances is formed, resulting in water leakage when it rains, and dust and other debris collects along the junction between the siding retainer and an edge of the leg of the Fredette corner connector. Water seeping around the retainer and Fredette corner connector, over time, may produce dry rot in the wall that the siding is suppose to protect.